Charity Tax Status and How it Affects Reproductive Rights in Canada

In fact, the current definition comes from the 1891 English House of Lords decision, Pemsel.8 That case set out four categories of charitable purposes: (1) the relief of poverty, (2) the advancement of education, (3) the advancement of religion, and (4) other purposes beneficial to the community not falling under any of the preceding heads.9 As explained further below, those four categories remain. [...] The drop in numbers happens to coincide with the year the Liberal Party was elected, as well as the launch of the CRA’s new “charities education program.” The program aims to educate charities on avoiding common errors in financial reporting obligations.17 One of the biggest issues in compliance is the requirement for charities to spend their minimum required threshold. [...] Firstly, the organization’s purposes must be exclusively and legally charitable.28 Secondly, it must be established for the benefit of the public or a sufficient segment of the public.29 The public benefit test is at the heart of every inquiry into an organization’s claim to charitable status under the Income Tax Act. [...] They argued that their main purpose was the prevention of poverty and providing financial and debt counselling.34 The issue that was uncovered, however, is that the charity was offering counselling to everyone regardless of their financial circumstances.35 The Federal Court of Appeal upheld the Minister’s decisions and concluded that the “prevention” of poverty was not a charitable purpose.36 The. [...] The Federal Court of Appeal found that their application was refused by the Minister on the basis that "absent clear statements of public policy and absent public consensus on the abortion issue, it cannot be said that the (appellant)'s activities are beneficial to the community in a way the law regards as charitable".61 The court held that their true purpose was not political (e.g.